Settling and Retaining Migrants – Employers
Hiring the right employee is an investment, and with a bit of thought a retention plan
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) are excelling themselves with various ad hoc visa rule alterations over recent weeks, and we have got more on Accredited Employer Work Visas.
Visa updates
Accredited Employer Work Visas (AEWV) update – The introduction of the Accredited Employer Work Visas (AEWV) has suddenly been delayed until mid 2022. Employers don’t be complacent, new staff members still need full documentation, and you will be grateful to have recorded evidence of your immigration compliance history moving forward. Meanwhile, applications for the Accredited Talent Employer, Labour Hire Accreditation and Approval in Principle, other than for crew of fishing vessels, closed on the 30 June 2021.
Border exceptions for the dairy industry – The latest exceptions allow up to 150 dairy farm workers in management roles on farms, up to 50 workers in dairy assistant roles, and up to 50 general practice vets to enter New Zealand, along with their partners and dependent children. Minimum salary rates and specific prior experience apply, so logistics and costing make these exemptions difficult to qualify for.
Instructions for work visa temporarily relaxed – The need to provide supporting documentation such as advertising, contracts, medicals and police certificates is currently relaxed for onshore work visa applicants continuing in existing employment.
INZ temporarily closes online work visas – Until 1 September 2021 work visa applications must be couriered to INZ in hard copy. Leaping back to the past.
Medium hourly wage of $27 – Job offers under this rate are considered to be lower skilled for work visas and for work visa determination. Skilled Migration Category (SMC) job offers will need to meet this new medium hourly wage rate.
Two year work visas for lower skilled workers – Onshore work visas for lower skilled workers can now be granted for 24 months.
Visitor, work and student visas applications withdrawn – Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has begun the process of lapsing 50,000 temporary visa applications and refunding the application fees. Cited as necessary due to the border restrictions, this is devastating to many applicants, their families, schools and employers. The en masse action does not take into account applicants who will be eligible for border exceptions, the extreme skill shortages negatively affecting productivity and the humanitarian aspects, and makes the business of visas that much more complicated. If you, your employer or family member receives one of these notifications, seek professional help now to reassess your unique situation.
Working Holiday (WH) and Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) – Holders in NZ are automatically gaining a further six months if their visas expire between 21 June and 31 December 2021. Those with Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) renewals will now allow the holder to work for any employer in any industry. All other SSE work visa holders are only able to work for approved employers to plant, maintain, harvest or pack crops.
Winter in NZ
Winter sports fans are currently in their element along with those of us taking mid-year vacations and discovering numerous local winter wonderlands. A number of our clients however have experienced extreme flooding this winter and our thoughts go out to them and the scores of wonderful people who are supporting them. Hopefully the Northern Hemisphere folk are enjoying warm days and more freedom thanks to Covid-19 vaccinations.
The devil is in the detail, so don’t hesitate to contact us.
Disclaimer: Mary Noonan is Heartland Immigration Ltd Managing Director, her views expressed in this article are not intended to replace the professional service provided to individual migrants by a Licensed or Registered Immigration Adviser or Migration Agent.
Hiring the right employee is an investment, and with a bit of thought a retention plan can make a real difference to your bottom line. Taking some simple, common sense steps to help your employee settle in will benefit both your business and your employee.
As any good employer knows, ensuring pay and conditions are equitable and in line with those of other employees is part of the foundation for a positive employment relationship.
MANAGE EXPECTATIONS WELL
From the first contact with your new employee to the time they arrive in New Zealand be positive but be realistic. Don’t promise anything that you – or New Zealand – cannot deliver.
FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
If you can provide the migrant and their family with information and insight into the basics like introductions to schools and even employment opportunities for their partner, this will help. A happy, well settled family equals a happy, well settled, productive employee who is more likely to remain loyal.
ACCESS TO SUPPORT NETWORKS
Making support networks available for the migrant and their family prior to their arrival in New Zealand can be invaluable. This will help the migrant to plan their new life as well as creating a support network that operates prior to arrival, when they land and for the crucial few months post-arrival. Settlement Support NZ can assist with this.
SIMPLE STEPS
Think about practical steps you can take to help your employee get established. Can you provide flexible working hours at the start to give them time to set up their household?
VALUE THE DIFFERENCE
Migrants bring with them different ways of thinking and doing. They may have ideas and networks that could benefit your business. Not only could this improve work practices but your new employee could also open up new market opportunities.
Other Services:
Finding Migrants – Employers
If you’re new to recruiting staff from overseas, here are some pointers to help you through
Visa Options For Employers
Work visa applications are very complex, require careful handling and must meet a high threshold of
What We Do For Employers
At Heartland Immigration we understand how difficult it can be to find and retain good employees.
Visa Options For Individuals
There are many different types of visas and choosing the right one can be confusing. Here,
What We Do For Individuals
Heartland Immigration tailors our services to meet your needs, whatever they may be. Our friendly professionals
If you’re new to recruiting staff from overseas, here are some pointers to help you through the recruitment process.
- Check that your job vacancy will meet the requirements of one of the visa categories, and find out what you need to do to support a migrant’s visa application.
- When planning offshore recruitment, consider which country or countries you are likely to find suitable candidates in. Some countries have rules and regulations that you may need to take into account when recruiting, for example China.
- Can you increase your reach by being creative about getting the message out there? For example with or via other employers, your industry association or a recruiter?
Set realistic timeframes:
- Allow time to undertake your usual employment processes such as advertising, evaluating CVs, interviewing, and checking references.
- Allow time for the migrant to prepare to migrate, eg. sell their home, gather documents for their visa application (such as medical and police certificates), and to obtain occupational registration if necessary.
- Allow time for the visa application to be processed.
Describing the job
- Write a clear, realistic and specific job description that candidates you wish to target will understand.
- Include key details such as the nature of the role, leave provisions, salary and a job title that they will understand. Migrants will be interested in a relocation package.
Making an offer
Once you find the right person, you can make them a job offer. The offer should include conditions that indicate the job is subject to the applicant gaining an appropriate work or resident visa.
Your new employee cannot start working for you until they have the appropriate visa and the job offer must be current when the person applies for their visa.
Work visa applications are very complex, require careful handling and must meet a high threshold of proof that there are no New Zealand residents or citizens available to fill the positions.
In most cases, the candidate will need a job offer before applying for a work visa , though some migrants already hold an ‘open’ work visa or working holiday visa to work for any employer.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS WORK VISAS
The Essential Skills in Demand Lists are Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ’s) three occupational skill shortage lists. If you offer a job to someone in an occupation on one of the lists and the candidate has qualifications and experience as specified on the list, it is normally easier to obtain an Essential Skills work visa. You can check whether or not an occupation is on one of the skills shortage lists here.
If you have a temporary or short term vacancy in an occupation not listed on the Essential Skills in Demand Lists you may still be able to recruit a worker from overseas. You’ll need to show you have made genuine attempts to recruit New Zealand residents or citizens.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS – APPROVAL IN PRINCIPLE
You could apply to Immigration New Zealand for Approval in Principle to recruit workers from overseas. If your application is approved, you’ll have assurance that you can recruit appropriately qualified and experienced people from overseas.
SPECIFIC PURPOSE OR EVENT – WORK VISA
If you need to employ someone temporarily for a specific purpose or event, they can apply for a work visa. The people who qualify for this visa have skills and expertise that will benefit New Zealand, such as specialist machinery installers, sports referees, or people involved in film production.
ARE YOU AN EMPLOYER IN THE HORTICULTURE OR VITICULTURE INDUSTRIES? DO YOU NEED TO EMPLOY SEASONAL WORKERS?
If you need seasonal workers to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops in the horticulture and viticulture industries, you might like to consider becoming a Recognised Seasonal Employer.
DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE FOREIGN FISHING CREW?
To engage foreign fishing crew you must request an approval in principle from Immigration New Zealand.
HOW ABOUT PEOPLE WITH ‘OPEN’ WORK VISAS TO WORK FOR ANY EMPLOYER?
Working Holiday Schemes
You can temporarily employ young people from overseas who are travelling around New Zealand on Working Holiday visas. They can work for any employer.
International Students
Many international students studying full-time in New Zealand are able to work for any employer for up to 20 hours per week in term time.
Silver Fern Visas
There are two types of Silver Fern Visa. The Silver Fern Job Search visa is a nine month open work visa, designed to bring skilled young people to New Zealand. Once these candidates have obtained skilled employment, they can apply for the two year Silver Fern Practical Experience visa. After that, it is likely they will be eligible to apply for a Skilled Migrant Category resident visa.
Work Visas for People Joining their Partner in New Zealand
If your prospective employee is the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident, or the partner of a work visa holder, they could have an open work visa and be able to work for any employer.
To find out more on visa options for employing migrants please visit Immigration New Zealand
At Heartland Immigration we understand how difficult it can be to find and retain good employees. We appreciate the challenges that employers face in managing the ever-increasing perplexities of the immigration process and global movement.
With our immigration expertise and industry and labour market knowledge, we achieve a win-win outcome for the employer and the migrant worker by offering a full range of services.
Plan
We assist you in building your immigration strategy around your recruitment needs in line with immigration rules and global competitiveness.
Employer Accreditation application
We help you obtain and retain New Zealand employer accreditation, necessary to employ and support migrants to obtain New Zealand residence, work visas or vary the conditions of an existing visa.
Job Check
We assist employers in gaining the specific approval, in the form of job vouchers, required to recruit or retain migrant staff for individual roles within your New Zealand business. By helping you with the necessary employment documentation, including HR practices along with the advertising and selection process.
Labour Agreement
We help you gain approval to recruit roles for migrant workers to fill in Australia.
Sponsorships
We help Australian employers obtain Accredited sponsor, Standard business sponsor or Temporary Activity sponsor status thus allowing them to employ migration workers and to support migrant workers gain Australian visas.
Process visa applications for employees
We assist your employees to gain the necessary work visas, vary the conditions of existing visas and obtain residence. A complete and personalized service for those employees that you just don’t want to lose.
Right advice, first time, every time.
There are many different types of visas and choosing the right one can be confusing. Here, we present a brief overview of the most common visa types.
RESIDENT VISAS
Skilled Migrant
Applying under the Skilled Migrant category has always been the most popular visa class for obtaining residence in New Zealand. All principle applicants for this visa class must be under 56 years of age and are required to meet a minimum standard of health, character and English language prerequisites before an Expression of Interest can be lodged with Immigration New Zealand. The Skilled Migrant visa is for those with skilled employment in New Zealand and/or who have recognised qualifications and experience that will benefit New Zealand.
Family
If you have family member who is already a New Zealand citizen or residence you may be eligible to remain in New Zealand permanently. The family class is divided partnership, parent and dependent child category of residence.
The Partnership category is for those living together in a exclusive, genuine and stable relationship. You do not have to be legally married and you maybe in a same-sex relationship.
The Parent category is for those with an adult New Zealand citizen or residence and income and sponsorship criteria applies. Application are submitted by submitting an Expression of Interest and then being invited to apply for residence.
The Dependent Child category is for children (in some circumstance up to 24 years of age) of New Zealand citizens and parents.
Investor and Business Categories
For those with a proven record of running a business, have capital and are wanting to actively engage in running and business opportunities in New Zealand.
TEMPORARY VISAS
Work visa:
The most common type of work visa is the Essential Skills work visa. If you have a job offer from a New Zealand employer, then this is probably the visa for you. The employer will need to show that there are no New Zealand citizens or residents available to fill the vacancy. They can do this by showing that the occupation is on one of the Essential Skills in Demand Lists http://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/ or by providing evidence of advertising for the vacancy.
You will also need to meet health and character requirements as well as be able to demonstrate that you are appropriately qualified by training or experience to take up the position.
Important note: New Zealand employers can sometimes be reluctant to sponsor offshore candidates unless there are specific skills shortages and the candidate is generally unable to start for 4-6 weeks so careful planning is required.
Working Holiday Visa:
Younger citizens, generally between 18 years and 35 years, of certain countries may be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa. These visa, and schemes can differ, allows you to work and travel for one year with Canadian and United Kingdom passport holders able to stay longer. You must not undertake permanent employment and some schemes have a restricted on the length of employment for any one employer
Student Visa:
If you are enrolled into a qualifying course at a New Zealand tertiary institution, you can apply for a student visa. Some student visas also allow you to work up to 20 hours per week.
Temporary Retirement Category:
This is an extension visa designed for people who wish to stay in New Zealand longer than the 12 months of a visitor’s visa. Applicants will be issued with a 2 year multiple entry visitor’s visa which allows for travel in & out of New Zealand. It is only a temporary visa. At the end of the 2 years, applicants must leave New Zealand or re-apply for a further visa under this category, subject to meeting the requirement of this visa.
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Be aged 66 or over;
- Nominate funds/assets of at least NZ$0.75 million and undertake to invest that money in New Zealand for a period of two years;
- Be able to show that they own the (legally earned or acquired) funds/assets;
- Be able to transfer & invest the said funds in an acceptable investment in New Zealand;
- Be able to nominate funds of NZ$0.5 million of maintenance funds and demonstrate ownership of these funds;
- Have an annual income of at least NZ$60,000.
In this category, the applicant may include his/her partner but dependent children cannot be included. Both the principal applicant and partner must also meet the health and character requirements and hold and maintain comprehensive travel and or health insurance for the two year duration. Should you be successful in your application, you will need to transfer and invest your funds in New Zealand within 3 months of your approval in principle. If you fail to do so your application will be declined.
Visitor Visa
If you wish to visit New Zealand for a short time for tourism or visiting family, then you may need to apply for a visitor visa. Nationals of some countries are not required to apply for a visitor visa before travelling to New Zealand. Others must obtain visitor visa before travelling to New Zealand. Generally, visitors may stay for a maximum of nine months in New Zealand, although this can be extended in certain circumstances.
Australian citizens and people who hold a current Australian permanent residence visa or a current Australian resident return visa do not need a New Zealand visitor visa to enter New Zealand.
